The present disclosure relates to the field of devices and methods for brewing beverages.
Many techniques are used for preparing brewed beverages such as coffee and tea. Most commonly, tea is prepared by pouring hot water into a cup with a bag filled with brewing material (i.e., tea leaves). The water absorbs flavors and such from the tea leaves and is brewed to become a tea beverage. However, eventually the tea bag must be manually removed, and it is often difficult to judge how long the tea bag should be left in the cup for an optimum brewed tea.
Coffee is often brewed by pouring hot water over coffee grounds that are supported by a filter. The water flows through the grounds, absorbs flavors and such from the coffee grounds, and flows through the filter into a cup. While this technique of making coffee is fairly easy and ubiquitous, it is criticized for its relatively-low absorption of flavors from the coffee grounds.
Many coffee connoisseurs prefer a technique known as the “French Press” as leading to good tasting coffee and efficient use of coffee grounds. In the French Press technique, coffee grounds and hot water are mixed in a container so that the hot water more thoroughly absorbs flavor and such from the coffee grounds during the brewing process. After allowing the hot water and coffee grounds to brew for a time, a user then pushes a filter through the container, separating the coffee grounds from the brewed beverage by forcing the grounds to the bottom of the container. The brewed coffee is then poured from the container. Notably, the brewed coffee should be poured from the container immediately, or it risks mixing too long with the coffee grounds. Also, the French Press technique is often time-consuming, and it may be difficult to consistently control parameters such as water temperature, size of coffee grounds, and the ratio of ground coffee to water. French Press equipment can also be difficult or inconvenient to clean.